Skipper weighs future after leaving the Jets

NEWCASTLE JETS coach Gary van Egmond said on Thursday there was ''no room for sentimentality in sport'' as Jobe Wheelhouse left the club with a broken heart.

After numerous reports the Jets captain was being pushed from the club, it was announced on Thursday that Wheelhouse was stepping down with immediate effect and would take a break from football.

He was told a week ago by van Egmond he would not be offered a contract for the next season.

Van Egmond sat next to the 27-year-old Wheelhouse as they addressed the media and said: ''Was it [Australian cricket chairman of selectors] John Inverarity who said there's no room for sentimentality in sport? It's tough and we've had a look at what we're going to do moving forward.

''You have a salary cap, and you need to stay within the means of that salary cap, and you look in regards to the players you have at hand and you make a decision.

''That's what we've done. We could have not said anything until the end of the year and not given Jobe an opportunity to go anywhere else and it would have looked like we didn't do the right thing.''

Wheelhouse's departure from the Jets leaves him stranded on 106 A-League games, the third most-capped player after Western Sydney's Tarek Elrich (134) and Melbourne Heart's Matt Thompson (121).

Over the past six months to a year, Wheelhouse said he had slowly fallen out of love with the Jets.

On Wednesday night, he spoke with Jets chief executive Robbie Middleby and Hunter Sports Group CEO Troy Palmer to inform them of his decision, before he told some senior players on Thursday.

The usually hard-nosed defensive midfielder was visually shattered to be leaving the club, where he was the sole remaining foundation member from the Jets inaugural season in 2005-06.

''These things happen in football,'' Wheelhouse said. ''The club didn't show any indication that they wanted to re-sign me, so I think that's pretty plain. The writing is on the wall.

''My heart's not here any more, I guess that's the main thing. I think I'd be cheating myself and cheating my teammates if I were to pick up a pay cheque for something I just wasn't in it for.''

Melbourne Heart made Wheelhouse an attractive offer for the remainder of this season and the next, but he turned it down after questioning his passion to continue as a professional footballer.